Missouri woman sentenced to 5 years for embezzlement

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. (AP) -- A southeast Missouri woman has been sentenced to five years in federal prison for embezzling nearly $880,000 from a manufacturing company where she worked as a payroll administrator.

Forty-four-year-old Lisa Ervin, of Cape Girardeau, pleaded guilty in January to wire fraud and money laundering. The sentence she received Monday in U.S. District Court also requires her to pay restitution to her former employer, Nordenia USA.

KFVS-TV reports (http://bit.ly/HoejE3) the five-year term imposed by U.S. District Judge Stephen N. Limbaugh Jr. exceeds the roughly three years recommended by federal sentencing guidelines. Limbaugh called the guidelines amount inadequate for what he said was the largest embezzlement case he has ever handled as a judge.

Ervin admitted embezzling from Nordenia over a six-year period beginning in February 2005.